Can you forward calls to more than one number? (iPhone, Android and UK networks)

What call forwarding does, and its one-number limit

Call forwarding, which UK networks usually call call divert, sends calls for your mobile on to another number. Every way of setting it up asks for one number: the Forward To box on an iPhone, Android's call forwarding screen, or the number inside a network code. None of the phone or mobile network help pages listed below offers a way to forward a mobile's calls to two numbers at the same time.

There are two kinds. EE's business help explains them simply:

• Unconditional: every call is diverted and your phone doesn't ring.
• Conditional: calls are diverted only in certain situations. Android and the network codes split these into when you're busy, when you don't answer, and when your phone is unreachable, meaning switched off, in Airplane mode or without signal.

You can point each condition at a different number, but each one still sends the call to a single place. The nearest thing to ringing two phones is a no-answer divert: your phone rings first, then the call moves on. The phones ring one after the other, never together. BT's mobile help says this happens after 15 seconds, and Vodafone lets you change the ring time.

How to forward calls on an iPhone

Apple's iPhone User Guide gives these steps:

1. Open Settings, tap Apps, then tap Phone.
2. Tap Call Forwarding and turn it on. With Dual SIM, choose the line.
3. Tap Forward To, enter the number, then tap Back.

A Call Forwarding icon shows in the status bar while it's on. Apple says you must be in range of the mobile network when you set it, or calls won't be forwarded. For forwarding only when the line is busy or not in service, Apple says to ask your network how to set it up. To stop forwarding, turn Call Forwarding off again.

How to forward calls on Android

Menus vary by maker, but giffgaff's help describes the usual route:

1. Open the Phone app, tap the three-dot menu, then Settings.
2. Tap Calls. On some phones it's under Supplementary services or Calling accounts. Samsung's UK help uses Supplementary services.
3. Tap Call forwarding, choose Always forward, When busy, When unanswered or When unreachable, enter the number and tap Turn on.

To stop, choose Disable on the same screen, as EE's business help describes. On a Pixel, Google's help says not to use automatic call screening if you use call forwarding, because screened calls won't be forwarded.

Using your network's codes

You can also dial a short code from your phone. Vodafone publishes these, with the first 0 of the number replaced by +44:

• All calls: **21*number#. Turn off with ##21#. Check with *#21#.
• Unanswered calls: **61*number#. Turn off with ##61#.
• When busy: **67*number#. Turn off with ##67#.
• When switched off: **62*number#. Turn off with ##62#.
• Cancel every divert at once: ##002#.

BT's mobile help lists the same codes, and O2's uses ##002# too. EE's business help says diverts can also be set by calling 150, but not remotely or through Customer Service, so set one up before you need it.

What diverted calls can cost

A diverted call isn't always free for you. EE's business help says a call diverted to another UK number is charged at the call rate on your price plan. If that kind of number is in your allowance, it comes out of your allowance like a normal call, and normal charges apply once you go over. Diverts to numbers outside your plan, such as 08 numbers, are charged, and roaming charges apply if you use a divert abroad. Vodafone says even diverting to voicemail uses minutes from your allowance on Pay monthly.

Some plans also limit where calls can go. Vodafone says Pay as you go customers can only divert to voicemail, and both Vodafone and EE say diverts go to UK numbers.

What to watch for

• Links that ask you to turn on forwarding. Apple says iPhone alerts you to and blocks links in messages, emails, web pages or apps that ask you to turn on call forwarding, because scammers may use them. If you didn't expect one, ignore it.
• A divert you forgot. With an unconditional divert your own phone stays silent. Look for the forwarding icon, check with *#21#, and cancel what you don't need with ##002#.
• "Follow me" numbers. Ofcom says personal numbers starting 070 can be used as a "follow me" service, but they are different from mobile numbers and calls to them can cost more: around 50p a minute from a landline or 86p from a mobile where they aren't in a call allowance.

What does ring several phones at once

Ringing several phones together is a different job from forwarding. Businesses use hunt groups. BT's Cloud Voice help describes the choices: Regular tries each member in list order until it finds someone free, and Simultaneous rings all idle members at the same time and connects the first to answer. If everyone is already on a call, the caller hears a busy tone. These are business phone systems, set up through a business portal.

For a household, MyCirCall does this with ordinary phones (see below).

Free options worth using first

• A second contact. When a school, care home or surgery asks for your number, give them a second person's number too, so they have someone else to try.
• Emergency Bypass on iPhone. Apple says you can open a contact, tap Edit, tap Ringtone and turn on Emergency Bypass, so calls from that contact still make a sound when your iPhone is silenced. A Focus such as Do Not Disturb can also allow repeated calls: two or more from the same person within 3 minutes.
• Do Not Disturb on Android. Google's help says you can choose whose calls come through, and turn on Allow repeat callers so a second call from the same person within 15 minutes gets through.

These help your own phone ring. They don't give the call anywhere else to go if you can't answer.

Where MyCirCall fits

MyCirCall gives you one UK mobile number, starting 07, for the people and places whose calls matter. When it's called, your own mobile and the phones of the small circle of people you trust (up to 2, 4 or 5, depending on the plan) ring at the same time, and the first to answer and press 5 takes the call. They need no app, account or payment, on any UK network. It can't make anyone answer, and it sits alongside a second contact and Emergency Bypass rather than replacing them.

MyCirCall is not an emergency service. In an emergency, always call 999 or 112.

Sources

• Apple Support (UK), iPhone User Guide: Set up call forwarding on iPhone
• giffgaff Help, How to manage call forwarding on your phone
• Samsung UK, How do I use the call functions on my device?
• Google, Pixel Phone Help: Screen your calls before you answer them
• Vodafone UK, Manage Call Diverts & Call Forwarding
• EE Business, How to manage call diverts
• BT Business, How do I set up call divert on my mobile?
• O2, How to cancel all diverts on your Apple iPhone 16
• Ofcom, Call costs guide (published 14 February 2023, last updated 31 January 2025)
• BT Business, Hunt Groups for BT Cloud Voice and how to use them
• Apple Support (UK), iPhone User Guide: Allow or silence notifications for a Focus on iPhone
• Google, Android Help: Limit interruptions with modes and Do Not Disturb on Android

Sources checked on 17 October 2026. Phone settings and network terms change, so check your own phone and your network's current terms.